Week by week, the images on our screens have been growing ever more harrowing.Emaciated, listless children. Desperate mothers, too weak to breastfeed their infants. Empty bowls outstretched at aid distribution centres.
The scenes of acute hunger and suffering in Gaza have provoked outrage and alarm around the world.
And now, a growing number of Jewish organisations are adding their voices to that chorus – including many which had previously refrained from openly criticising Israeli government policy.
“Blocking food, water, medicine, and power – especially for children – is indefensible,” asserts one of the largest Jewish groups in the United States, the Union for Reform Judaism.
Despite being pro-Israel, the organisation suggests in a statement that the Israeli state is “culpable in this human disaster”.
Severely malnourished 18-month-old Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq is held as aid agencies warn of a growing hunger crisis in Gaza
“Let us not allow our grief to harden into indifference, nor our love for Israel to blind us to the cries of the vulnerable.
“Starving Gazan civilians neither will bring Israel the ‘total victory’ over Hamas it seeks, nor can it be justified by Jewish values or humanitarian law.”
Those comments from the Union for Reform Judaism follow a statement from the American Jewish Committee, which over the weekend became the first major long-standing organisation in the US to express deep concerns about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
While stressing it “stands with Israel in its justified war to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas”, the group also said it had “immense sorrow for the grave toll this war has taken on Palestinian civilians”.
American Jews have long supported the state of Israel.
Two major Israeli human rights organisations have accused Israel of genocide for the first time
Following the 7 October attacks, US Jews donated more than $833 million to the country, primarily through the Jewish Federations of North America, according to Ynetnews.
Israel has also been the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign aid since its founding, receiving about $310 billion in total economic and military assistance (adjusted for inflation), as outlined by the Council on Foreign Relations in a recent report.
While these latest statements from major US Jewish groups do not represent a shift in overall support for the state of Israel, they do reflect a growing sense of dismay and disgust at the government of Israel over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Some suggest it is a turning point.
And it’s not just in the US that Jews are speaking out.
More than 1,000 Rabbis, spread across at least four continents, have signed a letter urging the Israeli government to allow international aid into Gaza, halt settler violence and pursue peace.
It reads: “We cannot keep silent… we cannot condone the mass killings of civilians, including a great many women, children and elderly, or the use of starvation as a weapon of war.”
The calls are also coming from inside the house.
Two major Israeli human rights organisations have now accused Israel of genocide for the first time.
B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel say they made the conclusion following detailed research and analysis of Israel’s policy in Gaza.
People carry bags of flour after aid drops were allowed in Gaza this week
Speaking to RTÉ News, Tirza Leibowitz, the deputy director for Physicians for Human Rights Israel, cited attacks on medical facilities and staff members, plus “the denial of life conditions that are essential for the survival of a people”.
“Previously to say the word genocide and to bring that into the public discussion was very high risk… But for me, one of the biggest fears is being silent when atrocities are happening. We’ve all seen it historically.”
Ms Leibowitz said she hopes the report will provoke dialogue on the Gaza crisis inside Israel, but acknowledges the difficulties in drawing attention to the plight of Palestinians on a day-to-day basis.
“Inside Israel, the media is not fulfilling its purpose and its role. And a lot of these pictures are being held back from the public … We are hoping that by coming out with this report, we are normalising this discussion.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli government described the allegation of genocide made by the rights groups as “baseless”.
“It simply doesn’t make sense for a country to send in 1.9 million tons of aid most of that being food, if there is an intent of genocide,” said spokesperson David Mencer.
The International Court of Justice, in an interim ruling in early 2024 in a case lodged by South Africa, found it “plausible” that the Israeli offensive had violated the UN Genocide Convention.
